Henrion's goal lifts UNH in third

John Henrion scored a power-play goal late in the third period to give the University of New Hampshire hockey team a well-deserved, 2-1 win over Boston College Saturday night at the Whittemore Center.

The sell-out crowd erupted when the senior forward deposited the rebound of a Justin Agosta shot from the point with 4:48 remaining in the third as the Wildcats earned a split of the weekend series with the Eagles.

UNH snapped a six-game losing streak against BC and went almost four years between victories against the Eagles at home.

The Wildcats were determined to atone for their 5-2 loss at BC on Friday night. They outshot the Eagles, 39-23, including 21-3 in the second period when they spent 11 minutes on the power play, including two minutes with a two-man advantage but failed to convert.

“I think everyone left it out there,” Henrion said. “We were extremely disappointed with our performance (Friday) night. We were pretty angry before the game. Tonight we turned that around.”

Henrion finally broke through after being stymied on several good scoring chances earlier in the game. He finished with eight shots on goal, and made the eighth one count.

“We made an effort to get to the crease tonight,” Henrion said. “(Friday) night we were more on the perimeter. (The goalie) could see every puck. He could make every save. Tonight was different. We made a real effort to get there and rattle him a little bit.”

Fourth-ranked UNH improved to 14-4-2 overall and 9-3-1 in Hockey East while the No. 2/3 Eagles fell to 13-4-2 and 10-3-1.

Sophomore Matt Willows gave UNH a 1-0 lead with his first career goal in the final minute of the second period.

BC senior Brooks Dyroff capitalized on a turnover in the Wildcat zone with his first career goal on a slap shot from the slot at 7:57 of the third, setting the stage for Henrion’s heroics.

“I thought we competed much harder defensively than we did (Friday) night,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “We tried to play at a high pace and put a lot of pressure on them and I think we did that.”

“A sweep would have been great,” Henrion said, “but after (Friday) night there was a very sour taste in the locker room. We haven’t played like that in a while. It was very disappointing, so this one was a little personal.”

Although the first period was scoreless, there was plenty of action. Both netminders were sharp as the teams combined for 19 shots on goal.

BC sniper Johnny Gaudreau tried to slip a backhander past UNH goalie Casey DeSmith on a breakaway, but the sophomore was there to block the bid 4:10 into the game.

Gaudreau scored on a similar move in the Eagles’ 5-2 win Friday night.

Less than a minute later the Wildcats had a promising three-on-one rush but BC goalie Parker Milner denied John Henrion, who was breaking down right wing.

BC’s Michael Matheson was penalized for delay of game on the play, but UNH failed to capitalize on the only power play of the first period.

Henrion had a another glittering chance with less than five minutes remaining in the first when he intercepted an errant clearing pass in the BC zone.

Milner made the save on Henrion’s point-blank blast and the rebound trickled just wide of the post. Henrion had four of the Wildcats’ nine shots in the first period.

Both goalies came up with key saves in the final minute to keep the game scoreless going into the first intermission.

It looked like the second period was going to end the same way, especially when UNH couldn’t convert despite 11 minutes of power-play time, including two minutes with a two-man advantage.

The Wildcats outshot the Eagles 21-3 in the second period, but failed to score until Willows finally put them on the board in the final minute. Taking a pass from linemate Dan Correale out front, Willows waited for Milner to commit, they put the puck upstairs to give UNH a 1-0 lead with 46.3 seconds left in the second period.

“It felt great to get that first and after two years get the weight off my shoulders,” Willows said.

“Willows made a great play,” Umile said. “He kept his composure holding onto (the puck). That line has done a lot for us the past couple games.”

Kevin Goumas drew two penalties in the frame, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct on defenseman Mike Matheson.

The freshman had just served a two-minute minor for hitting from behind, then leveled Goumas eight seconds after emerging from the penalty box. Matheson was done for the night following a hit that had Goumas stunned for a moment before the junior forward skating off under his own power.

“It was an important game for us to come back after (Friday) night,” Umile said.

“I thought New Hampshire played extremely well,” said BC assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh. “They were skating pretty well and playing with a purpose tonight.”